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Scientists delivered a warning this week about nanotechnology after tests on lab rodents found that needle-like carbon nanotube fibres, already in commercial use, led to lesions similar to those caused by asbestos.

Their research, published online in the journal Nature Nanotechnology exposed the mesothelium lining that swathes the lungs, the abdomen and the heart to nanotube fibres measuring billionths of a metre.

The fibres resulted in the same kind of inflammation and scarring, called granulomas, that are caused by exposure to asbestos, say the research team, led by Professor Ken Donaldson of the University of Edinburgh in the UK.